Improved boot-heel shave



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDVARD S. SNELL, OF NORTH BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED BOOT-HEEL SHAVE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 36,035, dated July 29, 1862.

T0 all whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, EDWARD S. SNELL, of North Bridgewater, in the county of Plymouth and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improved Boot-Heel Shave, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a view of my improved heelshave; Fig. 2, a plan of the under side; Fig. 3, a transverse section on the line .fr x of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a transverse section on the line y y of Fig. 1; Fig. 5, a view of the blade detached.

rIhe tool known as a heel-shave, with which the boot-maker trims and shapes the heel of a boot, has several requisites to suit it to his work: First, the blade must be capable of being easily removed, if necessary, for whetting up or for grinding the edge, and when returned must be easily adjusted and be firmly held in place; secondthe guard or throatgage, which is placed in front of and a little below the edge of the blade to determine the size of the throat and the thickness of shaving, should be capable of being moved up nearer to the edge of the blade as it is ground or worn away, so that the throat may-be kept of the proper size, and this without having any screw-heads or projecting corners on the face of the tool, which will be liable to mar the boot when the tool is being used. All these requisites I have obtained in my improved heel-shave, which I will proceed to describe in such terms that others skilled in the art may understand and use my invention.

In the said drawings, A is the stock, of iron or other suitable material, to which the blade B (shown detached in Fig. 5) is attached in the following manner: A shank or tang, a, at each end of the blade is bent down and enters a hole in the stock at the end of a recess, b. rIwo screws, c, which pass through the back edge of the stock, one opposite each end of the blade, bear against the tangs a and conine the blade firmly in position after it has been adj usted.

To raise or lower the blade in the stock it is only necessary to loosen the screws c, and by striking on the ends of the tangs a (which project through the stock) or on the top of the blade its position in the stock may benicely adj usted, and in the same way, by loosening these screws o, the blade may be readily removed when it is necessary to sharpen it. This plan of securing and adjusting the blade in the stock is nearly the same as that usedin the ordinary wooden spokeshave. Ido not therefore claim it as new.

The throat-guard C has at each end a bent arm, e, which fits in a recess, f, in the under side of the stock A, and is held in place by a screw, g, which passes through a slot, t, in each end of the guard from the under side of the stock. rIl'his permits the guard tovbe moved toward and fromv the blade B to adjust the throat or opening between the guard and the edge ofthe blade, while this, together with the adjustment of the blade in the stock before described, regulates the thickness of l the shaving.

'It will be observed that in the above-described tool the necessary adjustments may be readily and quickly made, and that the parts when in position are more securely and rmly held than in other tools of this kind, while there are no projecting screw-heads or corners77 on any part of the face of the tool to mar the leather when .being used. These advantages will be readily appreciated by workmen who have occasion to use such an article. The manner in which the arms e of the guard C are conned in the recesses f of the stock renders it particularly firm.

I am aware of the patent granted to Benjamin Tolman, May 10, 1859, for a tool of this class, in which the blade and guard are both made adjustable with respect to each other, but in which, by a clumsy arrangement of the parts, the blade is simply held by screws passing through slots in its ends, which screws are liable to mar the leather when being used for shaving boot-heels, and also to be knocked loose, and thus permit the knife to be thrown out of position, while the throat-guard, which is only adjustable up and down, exposes a corner at each end, which is liable to mar the leather. These objections I have avoided.

I am also aware of the patent of Varanes Snell of July 20, 1858, in which a rigid blade and a removable guard are used; but in this case the guard cannot be adjusted to the blade nor the cutter or blade to the stock. Both of by the screws g and slots i, substantially in these objections I have avoided. the manner specified.

What I claim as my invention, and desire 2. The arms e of the guard e and the recesses to secure by Letters Patent, s#- f in tbe stock for steadyng the guard, as set l. The above-described boot -heel shave, forth. consisting of the blade B, capable of being I raised and lowered in the stock A in the man- I ner described, in com bnation with the throatguzud C, which may be moved toward and from the blade B and be secured in position EDVARD S. SNELL.

Witnesses:

Crus. F, SYLvEsTER, JOHN BRooKs. 

